Today, January 13, marks the 8th anniversary of the Costa Concordia disaster which left 32 dead, 157 injured in the tragedy and 4,000 passengers and crew traumatized, after the cruise ship run aground at Isola del Giglio, an island off the coast of Tuscany, Italy.
On this day of remembrance, the Municipality and the citizens of Isola del Giglio will comemorate the victims with a Mass heald in the Church of Saints Lorenzo and Mamiliano in Giglio, followed by the flower-laying ceremony into the sea.
This day marks one of the biggest cruise ship disasters in the modern maritime history but also marks the heroic acts and humanity by many passengers and crew who will never be forgotten.
- These are some of Costa Concordia heroes:
- Giuseppe Girolamo Costa Concordia musician from Italy
Giuseppe Girolamo (Costa Concordia crew member) a 30-year-old musician was among the victims of Costa Concordia. Giuseppe did not hesitate in the panic following the sinking of Costa Concordia he give his place in the lifeboat to a family with two children, despite not being able to swim.
The passenger Antonella Bologna was saved thanks to the generous and heroic act of Giuseppe Girolamo. She was on the ship together with her husband Sergio Leonardi and their children, twins who at the time were only three years old. In an interview for Rai1 she said:
"We went to the cabin to get sweaters in the dark. The light came back, they told us to go down to deck 4 where there was a lot of confusion. I was afraid of losing my two children whom I kept by the hand together with my husband. At one point we arrived near the lifeboat, there was a young man, the one I recognized in the photo, Giuseppe Girolamo. He was about to get on the lifeboat, then when he saw us he give his own seat for us. He helped us, then he disappeared. After that I never see him again. I released my testimony to the investigators when you sent me the photo I recognized it. He is the person who saved us, he is our angel."
Giuseppe could not swim but he did not think twice sacrificing his own life for saving a child,. His body was found couple of months after the shipwreck, on March 22, 2012, inside Costa Concordia.
Russel Rebello, Costa Concordia waiter from India
That fateful night Russel Rebello was in his cabin resting because he had a fever. At the time of the crash, Russell was sleeping and woke up when the water was already pouring in his cabin. He immediately began working on evacuation of passengers, one of whom he gave his life jacket. He was the last victim found on Costa Concordia. His body was recovered 3 years after the cruise ship sank.
Tomas Alberto Costilla Mendoza, Cabin Attendant
Tomas Alberto Costilla Mendoza, from Trujillo, Peru, helped a group of passengers to get into a lifeboat, after he fell into the cold waters, and died from hypothermia. His body was found 3 years after the disaster. Mendoza had worked for the Costa Cruises for over 17 years and was a cruise ship cleaning supervisor onboard.
Petar Petrov Ship Technician, Bulgaria
Petar Petrov saved over 500 crew and passengers on Costa Concordia. When the vessel ran aground he made six round trips with the lifeboat which holds 150 people. He managed to transfer to safety more than 500 survivors and was one of the last three crew members that did not leave the ship until the Italian Coast Guard took over. Mr. Petrov was awarded medal for European Citizen by the European Parliament for his unselfish act of courage and heroism.
Sandor Feher, Concordia violinist from Hungarian
Sandor Feher, a 38-year-old Hungarian violinist, was working as a musician on the ship. In the chaos of the sinking witnesses say he help several crying children put on lifejackets before heading to his cabin to retrieve his beloved violin. He was never seen again. Later his body was found in the lower decks.
Manrico Giampedroni purser
Costa Concordia purser Manrico Giampedroni helped load hundreds of people into lifeboats and continued to search the decks for more survivors until he fell, broke a leg and remained trapped in a submerged area of the ship. Luckily Mr. Giampedroni was rescued after 36-hour nightmare.
Dayana and William Arlotti
In long-lasting memory of the 5-year-old Dayana Arlotti from Italy. She was the youngest victim of the Costa Concordia disaster. Dayana was found one month after the tragedy, in the sunken ship together with her father William Arlotti.
This is for all the victims of the Costa Concordia Disaster. You will never be forgotten. Rest in Peace
- Costa Concordia Crew Members
- Erika Fani Soriamolina - crew member, waitress, Peru
- Girolamo Giuseppe - staff musician, Italy
- Russel Terence Rebello - crew member, waiter, India
- Sandor Feher - Staff musician, Hungary
- Tomas Alberto Costilla Mendoza –crew
- Costa Concordia Passengers
- Dayana Arlotti - age 5 - Italy
- William Arlotti – Italy
- Luisa Antonio Virzi - Italy
- Maria D'Introna - Italy
- Maria Grazia Trecarichi - Italy
- Giovanni Masia - Italy
- Gual Guillermo - Italy
- Michael Blemand - France
- Jean-Pierre Micheaud - France
- Mylene Litzler - France
- Francis Servel - France
- Pierre Gregoire - France
- Jeannette Gannard - France
- Margrit Schoeter - Germany
- Josef Werp - Germany
- Margarethe Neth - Germany
- Norbert Joseph Ganz - Germany
- Horst Galle - Germany
- Egon Hoer - Germany
- Elilsabeth Bauer - Germany
- Inge Schall - Germany
- Brunhilde Werp - Germany
- Christina Mathi Ganz - Germany
- Siglinde Stumpf - Germany
- Gabriel Grube - Germany
- Gerald 'Jerry' Heil - Minnesota, USA
- Barbara Heil - Minnesota, USA
